Sometime after the publication of "A
Doll's House", Henrik Ibsen
spoke at a
meeting of the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights. He
explained to the
group, "I must decline the honor of being said to have
worked for the Women's
Rights movement. I am not even very sure
what
Women's Rights
are. To me it has been a question of
human rights" ( ).
"A Doll's
House" is often interpreted by readers, teachers, and critics alike
as an attack on
chauvinistic behavior and a cry for the recognition of
women's rights (
). Instead its theme is identical to
several of his plays
written around
the same time period: the characters
willingly exist in a
situation of
untruth or inadequate truth which conceals conflict and
contradiction (
). In "A Doll's House", Nora's
independent nature is in
contradiction the
tyrannical authority of Torvald. This
conflict is concealed
by the way they
both hide their true selves from society, each other, and
ultimately
themselves. Just like Nora and Torvald,
every character in this
play is trapped
in a situation of unturth. In
"Ghosts", the play Ibsen wrote
directly after
"A Doll's House", the same conflict is the basis of the play.
Because Mrs.
Alving concedes to her minister's ethical bombardment about
her
responsibilities in marriage, she is forced to conceal the truth about her
late husband's
behavior ( ). Like "A Doll's
House", "Ghosts" can be
misinterpreted as
simply an attack on the religious values of Ibsen's
society. While this is certainly an important aspect
of the play, it is not,
however, Ibsen's
main point. "A Doll's House"
set a precedent for
"Ghosts"
and the plays Ibsen would write in following years. It established
a method he would
use to convey his views about individuality and the
pursuit of social
freedom. The characters of "A
Doll's House" display
Henrik Ibsen's
belief that although people have a natural longing for
freedom, they
often do not act upon this desire until a person or event
forces them to do
so.
Readers can be quick to point out that
Nora's change was gradual
and marked by
several incidents. A more critical look
reveals these
gradual changes
are actually not changes at all, but small revelations for the
reader to see
Nora's true independent nature. These
incidents also allow
the reader to see
this nature has been tucked far under a facade of a happy
and simple
wife. In the first act, she admits to
Christine that she will
"dance and
dress up and play the fool" to keep Torvald happy ( ). This
was Ibsen's way
of telling the reader Nora had a hidden personality that
was more serious
and controlling. He wants the reader to
realize that Nora
was not the fool
she allows herself to be seen as. Later
in the same act,
she exclaims to
Dr. Rank and Christine she has had "the most
extraordinary
longing to say: 'Bloody Hell!'" ( ).
This longing is
undoubtedly
symbolic of her longing to be out of the
control of Torvald
and society. Despite her desire for freedom, Nora has,
until the close of
the story,
accepted the comfort and ease, as well as the restrictions, of
Torvald's home
instead of facing the rigors that accompany independence.
Ibsen wanted the
reader to grasp one thing in the first act:
Nora was
willing to
exchange her freedom for the easy life of the doll house.
Ibsen shows that it takes a dramatic event
to cause a person to
reevaluate to
what extent he can sacrifice his true human nature. For Nora,
this event comes
in the form of her realization that Torvald values his own
social status
above love ( ). It is important to
understand Nora does not
leave Torvald
because of the condescending attitude he has towards her.
That was, in her
eyes, a small price to pay for the comfort and stability of
his home. In
Bernard Shaw's essay on "A Doll's House", he expresses that
the climax of the
play occurs when "the woman's eyes are opened; and
instantly her
doll's dress is thrown off and her husband is left staring at
her"(
). To the reader "it is clear that
Helmer is brought to his senses"
when his
household begins to fall apart ( ). It
is important that Shaw's
grammar is not
overlooked. The statements "the
woman's eyes are
opened..."
and "Helmer is brought..." both indicate that the subject of the
statement is not
responsible for the action. Rather, some
other force
pushes them both
into their new realization. Shaw's
clever analysis directly
adheres to
Ibsen's view of a person's reluctant approach to freedom.
Although Nora is the central character of
the play, she is not the only
person to cross
the turbulent thresh hold of freedom and bondage.
Christine Linde
leaves the symbolic harshness of winter and enters the
warmth of Nora's
place of captivity early in the first act ( ).
Christine gives
the reader an
initial impression of Nora's opposite.
She is a pale, worn
woman who is
completely independent. Her conversation
with Nora
reveals that
Christine was left poor and alone after her husband, for whom
she did not care,
passed away. Christine had accepted
marriage with her
husband because
she reasoned her present situation left her no other
option. She felt she had to take care of her two
brothers and bedridden
mother. If she had not married this wealthy man, she
would have had her
freedom, but it
would have been a difficult struggle.
Instead, she
surrendered her
freedom for an easier life. Eight years
later, the death of
her husband gave
her enough of a jolt to set her back in control of her own
life.
Torvald is certainly not the hero of
"A Doll's House", but he is not
the villain
either ( ). He is just as trapped in the
same facade of a happy
house as
Nora. He feigns security and unrelenting
support for his wife, but
this mask is
quickly dropped when he finds himself in danger. The
discovery of
Krogsdad's letter leads Torvald to believe his life and social
position are on
the brink of destruction. Torvald spouts
out ridiculous and
stupid remarks as
Nora's face draws tighter and colder with each statement.
Nora is
freed. When Torvald finishes babbling
apologies and forgiveness
after the second
letter from Krogdad arrives, Nora takes control of the
conversation and
control of her life. Moments before Nora
slams the door
on her former
life, Torvald's eyes are opened ( ). He
pleads with Nora, "I
have the strength
to change", but it is already too late ( ). It takes the
departure of his
wife before Torvald can awaken to his shallow existence.
The shake-up in
Torvald's life ushers him across the discordant threshold
of freedom and
bondage.
"A Doll's House" is the most
socially influential of Ibsen's plays ( ).
It shocked the
public into taking a much more serious look into Women's
Rights. "Ghosts" and "An Enemy of the
People" caused equally large
shock waves but
repercussions were not nearly as phenomenal.
The three
of these plays,
regardless of the extent their social impact, have each
earned the title
of Classic. Each play is the result of
the one written before
it. In a letter to Sophie Aldersparre, Ibsen
explained, "After Nora Mrs.
Alving had to
come" ( ). The same idea two years
letter spawned "An
Enemy of the
People". The three plays share the
common idea of
characters
existing in situations of falsehood until something causes them
to reevaluate
their existence. Instead of exploring
their personal freedom
every moment of
their lives, Ibsen's characters had their eyes cast down on
the path of least
resistance. This is simply a more strict
version of Ibsen's
primary theme in
all his works: the importance of the
individual and the
search for
self-realization.
Works Cited
Brunsdale, Mitzi.
"Herik Ibsen." Critical Survey
of Drama. Ed. Frank N.
Magill. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Salem Press 1986. pg982.
Clurman,
Harold. Ibsen. Macmillan, 1977, pg223. Rpt. in Twentieth-
Century Literary
Criticism. Ed. Sharon K. Hall. Vol.
8. Detroit: Gale,
1982. pg154.
Shaw,
Bernard. "A Doll's House
Again." The Saturday Review,
London,
Vol. 83, No.
2168, May 15, 1897: 539-541. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century
Literary
Criticism. Ed. Sharon K.
Hall. Vol. 8. Detroit: Gale, 1982. pg.
143.
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